The new Fontané restaurant has opened its doors in the castle of Sant Julià de Ramis, 12 kilometers from Girona. The Roca brothers, Joan, Josep, and Jordi, thus add their seventh establishment in Catalonia. The space is integrated into the Esperit Roca complex, which brings together a Michelin-starred restaurant, a hotel, and a wine cellar with more than 100,000 bottles, all within a 19th-century fortress.
Tribute to Montserrat Fontané Serra and traditional cuisine
Fontané pays homage to Montserrat Fontané Serra, founder of Can Roca in 1967 and recognized as the first Catalan of the Year. The culinary proposal starts from the recipe book 'La cuina de la meva mare', signed by Joan and Montse in 2004. The restaurant recovers traditional recipes and reinterprets them in a contemporary key.
"The recovery responds to the idea of reinterpreting old recipes" - Joan Roca
Among the featured dishes are cod fritters with citrus mayonnaise and mint soup, which Montse points out as a staple on the menu. Jordi Roca introduces his concept of 'anarkia' in a salad and a dessert, using vegetables from the gardens of Mas Marroch and reinterpreting the músic with sponge cake, hazelnut praline, apricot and plum puree.
Gastronomic offer and equipment
In the living room and the cellar are Eric Oliu and Berenguer Grífols, while in the kitchen work Carlos López and Jordi Turmo. The menu includes black sausage escudella, grilled scorpionfish suquet, guinea fowl cannelloni, and cod loin with tender garlic muselin and samfaina. The selected wines include references such as xarel·lo La Guixera 2019 and cariñena Etèric 2018.
Josep Roca has installed a distillery on the premises, where he makes 'vi piment' following a 15th-century formula and 'ranci dolç' from Empordà. The dish El Niu, reinterpreted at Fontané, combines pigeon breast, minced pigeon liver and heart, pigeon sauce, cod tripe stew, sausages, black sausage, diced fried potatoes, and a slice of toasted bread.
Project Dimensions and Future Vision
The Esperit Roca complex is presented as a large-scale project. Joan Roca described it as "an amusement park" when referring to the dimensions of the space. The team is committed to the recovery and updating of Catalan cuisine, with special attention to local produce and family memory.